Tareq Dirgham Salahi is an American man who became known for attending a White House state dinner as an uninvited guest in 2009. Salahi has appeared in two reality-television shows: Where the Elite Meet, and NBC Universal/Bravo's The Real Housewives of D.C.
Early life and education Salahi's father, Dirgham Salahi, was a Palestinian immigrant who came to the United States from Jerusalem, and His mother, Corinne, is from Belgium. Dirgham was educated as a petroleum geologist and worked in the Middle East and U.S. He retired and settled in Virginia, where he became owner of an estate farm, which he subsequently turned into one of the first Virginia Farm Wineries. Corinne Salahi is the founder and director of the Montessori School of Alexandria, Virginia.
Salahi attended primary school at Ascension Academy in Alexandria and high school at the Randolph-Macon Academy in Front Royal, Virginia where he graduated in 1987. He graduated from the University of California, Davis in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in oenology and business management.
Career Oasis Winery In 1977, Salahi's father Dirgham planted Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot vines at Oasis Vineyard, establishing the fifth winery in Virginia. Salahi's 1999 champagne was named in the "Top 10 Best Champagne and Sparkling Wines in the World" by Wine Enthusiast magazine.
According to court papers, Salahi also began operating a new business on the same premises as his father's Oasis Vineyard, called Oasis Enterprises. Oasis Enterprises included a wine tourism operation, wine country tours, and an events-and-catering business. A dispute arose between Salahi and his family regarding business matters between Oasis Vineyard and Oasis Enterprises. A lawsuit was filed in which the ill mother of the Salahi family alleged, according to court filings, that assets were misdirected to Oasis Enterprises from the winery to support tourism initiatives. Salahi fought the charges and made counter allegations against his parents and their lawyer. He began to seek investors to buy the property from his parents, but no deal was ever reached. The winery temporarily ceased operations, and the lawsuit was dropped without resolution.
Oasis Vineyard filed for bankruptcy protection in 2008, with its winery assets auctioned in late 2011. Oasis Enterprises filed for bankruptcy in 2009. Dirgham Salahi died on October 6, 2010, and Tareq issued a statement that read "In recent days, we have come together as a family."
In mid-2011, Salahi's wife, Michaele Salahi, was sued by two different parties for fraudulently taking payment for wine tours that were never delivered. On April 23, 2012, the Attorney General of Virginia, Ken Cuccinelli II, filed suit against Salahi's wife Michaele for violating the Virginia Consumer Protection Act for failing to conduct tours that were purchased, failing to provide refunds for canceled tours and other companies as official partners that had relationship with her business. Soon afterwards, Tareq announced that he would run against Cucinelli in the 2013 election for Governor of Virginia.
In May 2013, the land and buildings of the former Oasis Winery was sold at auction for $1.1 million in order to satisfy creditors, marking the end of the Salahi family involvement with Oasis Winery. Salahi's mother Corinne was the sole beneficial owner of the property at the time of sale.
In May 2016, the website vinoshipper.com started selling two wines with the label "The Real Housewinos", a reference to Salahi's appearance on The Real Housewives of D.C.
Tareq Salahi managed to retain the trademark for Oasis Wines and is currently distributing wine under the Oasis Wines and Celebration Wines names. He is also a travel agent operating charters as Hotels at Sea and Resorts at Sea.
Public service Salahi sat on the board of the American Task Force. an organization that worked closely with the heads of state from the United States, Jordan, Israel & Palestine dedicated to the peaceful two state solution between Israel & Palestine (see: United Nations Security Council Resolution 242).
In 2002, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society named him National Man of the Year, due to him raising $120,000 for the charity.
Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore appointed Salahi in 2000 to a three-year term on the Virginia Wine Board. At the conclusion of that term, Virginia Governor Mark Warner nominated Salahi as chairman of the Virginia Wine Tourism Office. Salahi was one of 15 board members of the Virginia Tourism Corporation, a "board that shapes Virginia's tourism policy", appointed by Gov. Tim Kaine in 2006. Kaine told MSNBC:
During his time in office the Virginia Wineway, Loudoun Wine Trail, Blue Ridge Wineway and Virginia Wineries Alliance were created, attracting, according to a USDA study, 980,000 wine tourists to the state, of which 336,000 visited Piedmont wineries.Virginia General Assembly, House of Delegates (2001) Journal of the House of Delegates of the State of Virginia, Volume 1. Richmond. Commonwealth of Virginia. p 26
After the White House security breach incident in 2009, Virginia Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment wrote a letter to Gov. Kaine asking for Salahi's removal from the board: "Mr. Salahi's recent outrageous behavior and personal promotion in regards to trespassing in the White House is not the face we need for Virginia tourism...I would appreciate you taking swift action to avoid any further negative situations." Salahi resigned from the Virginia Tourism Board on December 7, 2009.
Polo Salahi took up polo at 16. He was a regular competitor on the U.S. National Team and his Oasis squad won two U.S. Polo Association National Arena Titles in 1997 and 1998.Moon, Vicky (2002). The Middleburg Mystique: A Peek Inside the Gates of Middleburg, Virginia (via Google Books). Washington, D.C. Capital Books. pp. 86–87. .
Salahi was involved with sponsoring the Courage Cup in 2006, a polo charity event to raise funds for urban youth to experience equestrian activities. That year, he captained the United States Polo Team against Charles, Prince of Wales. A dispute over control, vendor payment, and use of proceeds from the Courage Cup reportedly led the Salahis to found the America's Polo Cup in 2007. Allegations of misuse of proceeds from the new charitable event arose, and in December 2009 the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services opened an investigation into the annual event.
The 2010 America's Polo Cup match took place on June 12 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., with teams announced as United States and India. The advertised ticket price for the event was $95 per person. The event had an attendance of about 250 people, with food from Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and PF Chang's China Bistro. Reports of the event stated that the players who represented India were actually of Pakistani origin and were from Florida. A spokesman for the Embassy of India stated that neither the Embassy nor the government of India had any association with the event. The event's website and the US team's uniforms identified an Indian company, Kingfisher Beer, as a sponsor. A spokesperson for Kingfisher denied that the company had sponsored the event. Yashpal Singh, the president and chief executive of Mendocino Brewing Company, Kingfisher's parent company, stated,
The America's Polo Cup filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in October 2010.
Teams to which Salahi belonged won the National Arena Championship Chairman's Cup and the USPA National Challenge Cup during 2020.(1) (2) A team that Salahi captained won one of the most recognizable polo matches in the world at the Bentley & Stella Artois World Championships in November of that year.
2009 U.S. state dinner security breaches
In June 2005, while he was a Senator, Barack Obama had posed for a photo with the Salahis and the Black Eyed Peas at the 12th annual Rock the Vote Awards Dinner at the National Building Museum.(1) The Salahis also breached the September 26, 2009, dinner for the Congressional Black Caucus, where the couple posed for photos with Rep. Chuck Rangel and Star Jones, then were asked to leave by security. On the December 2, 2009, Today Show, they claimed they were given tickets to that event by the Gardner Law Group, but caucus spokeswoman Muriel Cooper refuted that claim.
"The first the White House security detail knew of their blunder in allowing them into [the November 24, 2009, state dinner] was when the couple posted photographs from the dinner on their Facebook page." Invited guest Brian Williams, anchor of the NBC Nightly News, observed the Salahis' SUV being turned away from the East Gate entrance. After that, he saw the Salahis and crew leave their vehicle and walk to the White House. They entered through two security checkpoints; only one of them checked for photo ID. The White House on November 27 released photos of the couple posing with President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, and other celebrities in attendance.
Secret Service director Mark Sullivan issued a statement on November 27 saying that the Secret Service was "deeply concerned and embarrassed by the circumstances surrounding the State Dinner". Sullivan's statement also pointed out that "the preliminary findings of our internal investigation have determined established protocols were not followed at an initial checkpoint, verifying that two individuals were on the guest list. Although these individuals went through magnetometers and other levels of screening, they should have been prohibited from entering the event entirely. That failing is ours."
Representative Peter T. King, a Republican of New York, wrote a letter to the United States House Committee on Homeland Security requesting an investigation into this incident. The Secret Service also considered criminal charges against the Salahis. Salahi and Michelle were subpoenaed to attend the House Committee to give evidence but he refused to testify, pleading the Fifth in response to every question.
Journey for the Cure Foundation In 2009, Salahi's then-wife Michaele was listed as the director of the Journey for the Cure Foundation connected to the rock band Journey. The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services' Office of Consumer Affairs issued a press release that cautioned consumers that "Journey for the Cure Foundation, 14141 Hume Road, Hume, Virginia, has solicited contributions from Virginia citizens for allegedly charitable purposes. However, as of May 13, 2009, this organization had not registered with or been granted the appropriate exempt status by the Commissioner as required by law".
On February 28, 2012, the Virginia Attorney General's office announced a settlement with Salahi, where he would pay a fine for the violations. According to the attorney general:
The attorney general's office also alleged that the charity filed inaccurate financial statement with state regulators, and solicited in Virginia from 2004 to 2009 without obtaining the proper registration. It also failed to maintain proper fiscal records and failed to provide the state with required financial information when it stopped soliciting contributions there in 2010.
Salahi's wife at the time was accused of personally violating the solicitation of contributions law by signing a notice that said the foundation was registered with the Office of Consumer Affairs when it was not, and signing a registration statement that made false claims about the foundation's financial information and history.
In the settlement agreement, Salahi agreed to pay on behalf of his wife $2,500 in civil penalties and $7,500 to compensate Virginia for attorney fees, and the Journey for the Cure organization will pay $25,000 in civil penalties.
Reality television appearances Salahi has appeared in two reality TV shows (detailed below), and documentaries have been made about the White House security breach incident.